


Red and Black: May It Be

by anissa7118, kalalanekent



Series: Little Secrets AU [43]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, Superman Returns (2006)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26706985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anissa7118/pseuds/anissa7118, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalalanekent/pseuds/kalalanekent
Summary: This oneshot is basically a draft of a scene set several years in the future.  It contains MAJOR spoilers for the direction of theLittle Secrets AU 'versegoing forward.  The main reason it's not completely fleshed in is to avoid even more spoilers.  Hopefully, it at least lets those of you who were heartbroken after chapter 52 ofChiaroscuroknow that Kala and Jay end up on good terms again.
Series: Little Secrets AU [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2265
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Red and Black: May It Be

Kala landed in the courtyard after a long day, and Sebast met her there with an ice-cold cider in hand. “You’re gonna need this,” he said.

She took it gratefully. “I _always_ need it when it’s my turn to run with Young Justice, since the boys are too chicken to take their turns. Someone has to be the grown-up," she said wryly.

When she would’ve twisted the cap off, though, Sebast stayed her hand. “Wait until you hear about your youngest’s day, first.”

“That good?” Kala said with a weary sigh. Most days, motherhood was an amazing, world-shaking adventure. But it had also led to the most bizarre situations she’d ever been in. At least it was never boring.

“ _Mami!_ ” came the excited shout, and the next moment, her four-year-old daughter barreled into her legs. Kala swooped her up, kissing the mop of jet-black hair so like her own, and got a hearty smack on the cheek in return.

“Tell Mami about your day, luciérnaga,” Sebast prompted with a chuckle.

“Mami, while you were gone, we went to the park t’ feed th' fucks!” Mia exclaimed delightedly.

Kala almost dropped her and the cider. Now she knew by Sebast had said not to drink it yet – spraying hard cider out of her sinuses would _not_ be appreciated. “ _What?_ ” she gasped, looking at him in horror.

“The park with the duck pond,” Sebast said, giving her a fatalistic shrug. “She was _very_ excited to see the baby ducks.”

“Fuzzy baby fucks!” Mia said, laughing. “I love fucks. Mami, didja know baby fucks are called fucklies?”

“Ducklings,” Sebast corrected.

“Fucklies,” Mia repeated, and Kala groaned. She wasn’t even hearing the mispronunciation. Then again, she was _four_ – no sane person would expect perfect elocution at that age. A bit of a lisp wasn’t unusual.

Sebast just smiled. “One of the moms tried to help us out by telling her they’re called ducklings. I don’t think it’s much better.”

“I’m glad you saw the ducklings, sweetheart,” Kala sighed, shifting Mia on her hip. To Sebast, she said, “Good going, Papi. Well, now we can’t go back to _that_ park for like five years.”

“The other parents thought it was hilarious,” Sebast said. “She’s got your voice, Kala, everyone for half a mile heard her when she saw the baby ducks.”

Kala just groaned. She could just imagine Mia’s high-pitched voice shrieking _‘Baby fucks!’_ across the entire park. “ _Wonderful_. At least no one was ready to call Child Protective Services this time.”

Sebast snorted, remembering the same incident she was thinking of. It had happened about about six months ago, while Kala and Mia were in a store shopping for new clothes. Mia had wandered away to look at some shirts when Kala’s phone rang. She wasn’t out of line of sight, but since it was Babs calling for official business, Kala hadn’t quite devoted her full attention to what Mia was doing, other than to make sure she stayed close.

What she hadn’t realized until too late what that the shirts were dark gray, with the Nightwing symbol across the chest and blue lettering that read ‘Gotham Strong’. Mia had looked at them for a moment, and then turned to the associate folding more shirts at the next table, and said, “I miss Dick.”

The associate was an older man who almost wrecked the whole display. “ _What?_ ” he asked, staring in horror at the small child beside him.

“I haven’ seen Dick inna long time,” Mia had said sadly.

That was when Kala heard her and intervened, mortified. “You saw _Uncle_ Dick two weeks ago, honey,” she said, and then flashed the associate an apologetic grin. “Sorry, this one’s never met a stranger.”

“I love Dick!” Mia had said, and _then_ Kala saw the shirts, which were officially licensed and benefiting a children’s hospital. She grabbed her daughter up and bolted before Mia could explain that the shirts looked like her uncle’s special work shirt.

Remembering the incident made her sigh, and kiss Mia’s forehead again. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too,” Mia said. “C’n I get down now?”

“Sure,” Kala said, and set her down. Mia scampered off; like Kala herself at that age, she was inquisitive, energetic, and into _everything_. Watching her run back into the house, Kala sighed again. “Just don’t tell Jay.”

“Too late, I sent him the video while it was happening,” Sebast said.

“Oh great, you recorded my daughter shouting ‘I love fucklies’ instead of doing anything about it,” Kala groused. “Also I’m gonna hear about _that_ from him and Roy. Just wonderful.”

“Hey, I’m saving it for when she gets old enough to bring home a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Gotta have that kid-shaming material,” Sebast teased. “Now that you’re home I can go ahead and post it to the group chat. Dick will laugh his ass off.”

“And Tim will be traumatized,” Kala replied, shaking her head. “I know what Jase is gonna say. Mia is _absolutely_ my mother’s revenge for everything I ever did.”

“Nah, she’s not,” Sebast chuckled, and when she looked at him he smiled evilly. “Not _yet_ , anyway. She’s only four, mi Kala. You remember how much shit you put your mom through when you were a teenager?”

“Oh God, kill me now,” Kala groaned in pure horror.

…

A few weeks later, Jay dialed a familiar number, and when it was answered, he led with the question on his mind. “Is it okay to give little kids pizza?”

“Yeah, as long as it’s not the only thing they eat,” Sebast replied easily.

“Good,” Jay said, his gaze sliding sideways. Mia sat on the counter happily devouring an extra-large slice of meat lovers’ pizza. Maybe he should’ve asked _first_ , but it didn’t occur to him until after he saw her trying to eat something half the length of her own body.

“Wait,” Sebast said. “Come on, Jay, have you looked at the time? It’s after midnight! You can’t feed them after midnight!”

“Oh shit,” Jay said, spooked. _Now_ what had he screwed up? The whole child care thing freaked him a helluva lot more than anything Gotham’s rogues could throw at him.

“Don’t say that, she’s at the parrot stage where she’ll repeat everything you say,” Sebast warned.

“Well f–, I mean d–, oh _nevermind_ ,” Jay growled, starting to panic and feeling the mounting frustration of not being able to swear vehemently. “Freakin’ great, Kala’s gonna kill me now. What happens when you feed them after midnight?!”

“They turn into gremlins,” Sebast said, clearly holding back laughter.

Jay bit his lip as his first five responses failed to pass the profanity check. “You are _such_ a butthead,” he finally said. Far more mild than any normal reaction to Sebast’s trolling.

“I’m sorry, arrendajo, I thought you’d get the movie reference,” Sebast replied. “Seriously though, I hope you’re awake, ‘cause she’s gonna be up for a couple hours now that you put food in her.”

“She said she was hungry so I fed her,” Jay told him. “Also this is the time I’m normally awake.”

“Well, enjoy teaching her how to be a night owl,” Sebast said with a low laugh. “Kala will be thrilled when she decides to wake us up in the wee hours asking for pizza.”

“And then she’ll blame me, because you’ll tell her,” Jay said.

“Mia will tell her. I don’t have to snitch. You know she hates three AM wake-up calls,” Sebast shot back.

Jay rolled his eyes, looking at Mia. She was mostly focused on the pizza, ignoring his call; when she was at his place, she adapted to his schedule pretty easily. He never would’ve guessed he would enjoy hanging out with a four-year-old, but it was actually kinda nice.

Sebast continued, “Just please tell me you didn’t give her soda. You know when she gets caffeinated, she turns into a psychotic little squirrel. Just twitching and bouncing off the walls.”

“We both know I’m not _that_ dumb,” Jay protested. Honestly, though, Kala had warned him – no soda or sugary drinks for Mia. Just water, milk, and unsweetened juice. Which had all been fine until Mia asked for a sip of his drink, and Jay realized she was asking for _beer_ , and Kala probably _would_ laser his head off for that. Now _he_ was drinking healthy stuff, too, whenever the kiddo was at his place.

Mia had gnawed her way halfway down the slice, and stopped to give a rattling belch that even Sebast heard. “Holy shit, make her say ‘excuse me’. My mother would lose her mind,” Sebast said, laughing.

“Hey, what do we say?” Jay asked Mia.

She looked at him, confused, and then said tentatively, “Nice one?”

“No,” he corrected, still laughing. She had to have gotten that from Dick and Tim and Jay himself. “After you burp, you say ‘excuse me’.”

“Oh,” Mia said, thoughtful. And then she pointed out, “You don’.”

Sebast’s snickering laughter through the phone was not helping. Jay just sighed. “Yeah, well, I didn’t grow up with any manners. Your mom is raising you better. I’ll remind you if you remind me, okay?”

“Okay!” Mia said brightly, and burped again. “‘Scuze me!”

“You’re excused,” Jay said with a chuckle.

“Wait until she learns how to make herself burp just so she can say ‘excuse me’,” Sebast said. “I think we have a couple years before that phase hits. Although it took Mikey like a year and one serious chancleta beating to drop _that_ bullshit.”

“Yeah, I don’t think she’s gonna be that gross,” Jay said fondly, watching Mia chomp her way through the rest of the pizza slice. For such a tiny thing, she had a lot of energy. He just couldn’t picture a kid as delicately-built as Mia promised to be, going through the same disgusting phase a lot of boys did. Although she _was_ more rough-and-tumble than he would’ve guessed, already. Kala despaired of putting her in pretty clothes for photos, because Mia invariably got scuffed up within minutes. The kid loved to dress up, but she hadn’t quite learned enough impulse control to change before going out to wreak havoc.

“She’s a good kid,” Sebast said with the same affectionate tone. “Takes after her mother, gracias a Dios.”

“Amen to that,” Jay replied. “I’ll let you go, I was just making sure.”

“You’re good. I can think of worse things than hot men calling me in the middle of the night,” Sebast said salaciously.

“Shut up,” Jay told him, laughing, and hung up the phone.

That left him watching a four-year-old demolish a slice of pizza, one of the more entertaining sights in his life lately. Under the scrutiny, Mia stopped chewing and looked up at him. She swallowed, and asked, “What?”

“Nothing,” Jay said, and rumpled her jet-black hair. She giggled and swatted at her hand. “I’m just glad you’re you, that’s all.”

“Okay. I can’ be anybody else, can I?” Mia asked, tilting her head in confusion.

Jay didn’t want to give the kid an existential crisis before she entered kindergarten, so he just smiled. “It just means I like you exactly the way you are,” he explained.

“I love you too,” Mia told him, smiling just like her mother, so warm and open. Nope, there was never a doubt about this kid, if she loved you, you knew it.

“Eat your pizza before I do,” Jay said gently, pretending to bite at it, and Mia giggled again, her ice-blue eyes gleaming with merriment.


End file.
